what’s your story?

if you know me very well, you know that i am all about people and love getting to know people’s stories.

i think one of the biggest reasons there is such a lack of genuine love on display today is because we just don’t know and have a true understanding of where people have come from and where they are going… the simple but often overlooked and easily forgotten fact that every single one of us is somewhere “in between”… somewhere in the process… somewhere between here and there… between who we were and who we will be…

this video moved me deeply.  i watched it and wept. (thank you for posting it, jay)

do we really know where people are at in their lives???  some are stuck, still on first side of the cards… some have made it to the flip side… but many are somewhere in between.  many people’s cards are still turning… i know some of mine are.

Lord help us to not judge people just because we dont see that their card hasn’t quite turned yet… let us be your love and run in your truth… let us not be so quick to write someone off and close the book in judgement without realizing that the ink is still wet, and the story is still being written…

so everyone has a story… what’s yours?

awaken, o dreamer

this past sunday i was flipping through the new issue of relevant magazine, one of my favorites, and came across an ad and review of erwin mcmanus‘ new book, wide awake: the future is waiting within you.

as i skimmed the short interview about the book with mcmanus, i read this:

“relevant: do you think people ever feel guilty about pursuing the life they want?

mcmanus: yes. absolutely. i think strangely enough, most people live under obligation.  they’re doing what they think other people expect them to do or want to do or demand that they do rather than what they really would have done.  i meet with people whose only goal is to pay their bills, because they think beyond that is greedy and they forget that they don’t have to keep it all.  most people in the western world don’t really understand that to optimize your opportunity is to create hope for the rest of the world.  you can actually provide housing and find cures for diseases.  to me, one of the greatest and most selfish acts among people is to just make enough to survive.”

wow.  after reading that i could not get in my car fast enough and drove to barnes & noble to buy this book.  i’ve been in it for a few days now and it is rocking my world, and it is so right on time for me.  you can check out a sample chapter here.

here’s a great excerpt from the book:

“for centuries now, Jesus has been a focus of every kind of research, from theology to history to philosophy.  his approach to ethics left an undeniable mark on humanity.  what has been significantly underappreciated is how Jesus changed the way his followers actually engaged life.  he launched a movement that unleashed previously untapped potential in those who believed in him.  he created an environment where his disciples began to believe the impossible and soon found they were turning dreams into reality.  his became a movement of dreamers and visionaries called and compelled to dream of a better world.”

there is also a dvd release of wide awake:the short films coming next week that has several short films along the themes of the book. can’t wait to get that!

dangerous men

“all men dream but not equally.  those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes to make it possible.” - t.e. lawrence

pray for bob

i am presently sitting at gate 120 in the international terminal at lax, waiting to board my plane to hong kong, and subsequently jakarta, indonesia.

i want to introduce you to my new friend bob, who i just met here at the airport.

bob is 21 years old, from bowling green, kentucky and is on our flight to hong kong, then connecting to the philippines for a mission trip he is on there with international mission board. bob will be in the philippines with 5 others for 2 months, serving the people there and spreading the gospel. this is bob’s first time out of the country, and he is about to be in a foreign country, minus pretty much every comfort he knows, for two months, to tell people about Jesus.

here is an excerpt from his blog:

My team will be involved in general evangelism with the people of Camotes Island including children and adults. On some days will be having backyard bible studies, playing with the kids, having bible studies with the adults, hopefully playing some Philippino basketball, maybe even planting some rice with the farmers of the region. I will just say that I can’t wait. I know that God is going to take care of me just as He has taken care of me so far. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for my life this summer.

I just want to make sure that this summer is all about Him, and not about me. This summer will help me focus on Him and loving the people of the Philippines. I won’t have television, sports scores, internet, electricity, running water, warm showers, refrigerated food, juice, disc golf, or any of the things that I enjoy in my life. But I will have no distractions. I will also have kids to love on, adults to share the word of God with, teenagers to play sports with, farmers to help on the farm, and new friends and God to lean on

i feel very blessed to have met bob tonight. as you are reading this, say a prayer for him and his team as they prepare to embark on this trip. i encourage you to pray for protection, provision and favor for him and his entire team. thank you.

don’t stop hoeing

there is a church on every other corner in nashville. when i lived there, i has the esteemed honor of driving 45 minutes each way out to the berry’s chapel church of christ to take this picture. it was a day i will never forget. this picture has provided many, many moments of spontaneous and uncontrollable laughter since i took it in 2004.

yes, it is real. poor, poor little church full of (what I presume to be) white people. i know what they meant to say, but they obviously didn’t realize the double meaning. i guess at this church they teach from the RJV… the rick james version.

i recently came across crummy church signs, a blog dedicated to the “critical analysis of critically bad church signs”. i absolutely love it! i submitted my pic and they selected it for this week’s commentary contest. so, click on over and submit your caption/comment to my gloriously horrible church sign pic!

great peace in great sorrow

“Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday afternoon after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home.

Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children, was taken by LifeFlight to Vanderbilt Hospital, which confirmed the death, according to Laura McPherson, a spokeswoman for the Tennessee Highway Patrol.

The 5-year-old was hit by an SUV driven by her teenage brother, she said. Police did not give the driver’s name.

The teen was driving a Toyota Land Cruiser down the driveway of the rural home at about 5:30 p.m. and several children were playing in the area, McPherson said. He did not see Maria in the driveway before the vehicle struck her, she said.” excerpt from The Tennessean

This family has been a symbol of hope and grace to so many millions, and now I pray that they would find themselves surrounded by ministering angels and wrapped in the incomprehensible covering of the peace of God that Steven has faithfully stood on and sung about for so many years. In the middle of what is undoubtedly great sorrow, great pain, great hurt, great confusion and possibly even great anger, we pray the covering of God’s great peace over the Chapman family.